Redheart peered over the dark princess's shoulder at the sickly yellow brew that stood in the center of the mess of herbs and powders before them. “I didn't know you were such a skilled alchemist,” she beamed. “I guess I should have expected that much out of you.”
Luna took the compliment with grace. “With your knowledge of the data and my knowledge of the art, finding the antidote was but a simple task!” She and the nurse shared an eager grin.
Celestia looked on proudly as they organized their ingredients. “You seem confident in your abilities, sister. Don't you think your methods might have become old-fashioned?” she joked.
Luna scoffed. “Save for a few technical improvements, alchemy has remained virtually unchanged for the last millennium.” She smiled widely. “Give me the proper ingredients and I can brew a potion to change the world!”
Celestia chuckled. “I'm sure you could.”
“Princesses!”
Luna jumped. The two sisters turned to the window to see Applejack standing in it, her forehooves on the sill and tears in her eyes. “Somepony just flew in from Appleloosa,” she panted. “Rarity's hurt real bad. He said Rainbow led them to her and Twi was there.”
Celestia's eyes tightened; the canister lifted from the table and a sparkling yellow cork sealed it shut. “I hope that this antidote works, sister,” she said as she stepped out of her shoes. “We no longer have time to test this batch.” She trotted briskly to the door, tossing her peytral onto the table on the way. Applejack met her outside the doorway. The princess's soft yellow magic floated her crown from her head onto Applejack's. “I'll see to Rarity,” she assured Applejack. “This will cure her of the potion's effects and I will do my best to heal the rest.”
“I know you will, Princess,” Applejack said proudly. She tipped her head. “Best of luck.”
Princess Celestia bunched her thighs and sprang high into the air, leaving a trail as bright as any sunrise in her wake.
,',
Twilight sprang upright, forehooves spread and horn glowing fiercely.
“Wait!” Rainbow yelped. She jumped in front of her and placed her hooves on her shoulders. “It's not what you think.” She stared deep into Twilight's eyes. The unicorn stared back; she could see the light of belief in Rainbow's eyes.
But Twilight knew that believing in something doesn't necessarily make it true.
“You're jumpy, I get that,” Rainbow continued tenderly. “But Cappuccino's a good guy. You've probably seen him around town. I've worked with him before – tornado duty and stuff. He did a pretty good job.”
“High praise,” the stranger beamed as he brazenly approached the fire, “coming from the winner of the Best Young Flyer competition a couple of years back.”
Rainbow gave him a cocky smirk in return. “You saw that, huh? Pretty awesome, wasn't it?”
“It certainly was,” he sighed. “It was the most amazing show I've ever seen.” Rainbow blushed and her smile widened.
The stranger, a brown-coated pegasus with an overstuffed burlap saddlebag, stretched a hoof toward Twilight. “My name's Cappuccino. I make drinks.” When Twilight didn't accept his hoof he frowned and dropped it back to the earth. “You know, I've sold my recipes to a few popular locations in Ponyville. You've probably had something of mine.”
The aura around Twilight's horn dimmed but did not dissipate. “Congratulations,” she muttered.
“Twilight, could you please be nice?” Rainbow stage-whispered. “He can help us!”
Twilight frowned. “Why do you think he will?”
“I...” Rainbow's gaze shifted from Twilight to the pegasus on the sidelines. “You'll help us, won't you, Cappuccino?”
Before he could reply Twilight nudged her friend aside to take her place before the newcomer. “Out with it!” she barked. “If you are who you say you are, then how did you find us so quickly? We're in the middle of the San Palomino Desert, for pony's sake!”
“Whoa, Twilight,” he said, lifting his forehooves. To her ears the reaction sounded contrived. “I was in Appleloosa when I saw your friend come in. The guys told us it was you.”
“She did it to herself!” Rainbow said defensively.
“I believe you,” he said placatingly.
“Why were you in Appleloosa?” Twilight pressed.
“Because...” Cappuccino ducked his head and drew a line into the dirt. “Because I was scared,” he muttered. “You weren't the only one who got hurt the night you and that unicorn got into it. Remember, Twilight?”
Enough!
“I remember,” she replied coolly.
“Well, when I heard what she was saying about you after, I figured I'd get out of there until the heat died down,” he continued. “I knew what was really going on. It's obvious to me that she lied about you. I think she's just jealous of your fame and talent–”
Twilight's horn flared. “Don't talk about her like that,” she spat.
He flinched away; a hoof drifted to his chest, drawing her eye to the bruise just visible beneath his coat. “Okay, okay,” he said hurriedly. “I didn't mean anything by it!”
“Get to the point.”
Rainbow shifted uncomfortably. “Miss Sparkle...”
Twilight finally looked away toward her friend. “Not now, Rainbow Dash.”
“Look, I just wanted to help you!” Cappuccino insisted. “Since she's already been dealt with, I want to help show Ponyville what really happened.”
Rainbow smiled. “Sounds good to me!”
“And I brought a little something for us to share,” he added, a hoof darting into his saddlebag. It came free gripping a large glass flask filled to the top with fluid like a weak green tea. “It's an herbal tea I came up with,” he explained. “I always have some on me.”
“Really,” Twilight said blandly.
“I couldn't gather up any food fast enough, but this is just as good! It energizes, invigorates, and promotes good mental health!” He tossed it toward Rainbow, whose quick hooves caught it easily. “Go on, give it a try.”
“Don't drink it.”
Cappuccino's eyes tightened a hair; if she hadn't been watching for it, Twilight would have missed it. “What, you worried I'm gonna poison you?” he said smoothly. “Smell it if you want.” Rainbow popped out the cork and held it to her nose, looking at Twilight all the while. “Soothing, right?” She nodded appreciatively. “Come on, Twilight, why would I hurt you?”
“Don't trust him, Rainbow Dash,” Twilight growled. “You know better.”
“Give it a try, Rainbow,” he said with a benevolent smile. “Go on.”
Rainbow Dash lifted the flask to her lips once more, but hesitated. Her eyes rolled toward the unicorn.
“I said no,” Twilight said firmly, her eyes boring into those of their 'guest'. “Did you really think I wouldn't see it? The masks, the book... I knew Zecora couldn't have left us those hints. Rainbow's insistence only made it more obvious.” She grinned mirthlessly. “It isn't much of a trap if I spring it intentionally, is it?”
“Rainbow Dash, drink the tea.” The pegasus's voice had changed. Gone were the friendly highs and lows; the words were flat and lifeless and stronger than before.
Rainbow's ears swiveled back. “That voice,” she muttered. She pressed her shoulder to Twilight's and her head hung heavily to the earth. “I-I'm so confused...”
“Yes, you know my voice.” The pegasus smiled warmly, but his eyes were cold. “You want to obey it.”
“But Miss Sparkle...” Her elbow gave out, thrusting her cheek into the dirt. Her hindlegs took a step forward but her unresponsive front curled into the ground; she lost her balance and collapsed onto her side on the cracked earth. A splash of thin tea escaped the flask and beaded on her fur. “Ugh... I can't decide!”
“Close your eyes,” he said softly. Rainbow did as she was told; her hooves cradled the bottle to her chest. “Remember my face. Remember Miss Sparkle's face.”
“Dashie.”
Rainbow's eyes popped open.
Twilight stood over here, her muzzle facing Rainbow but her eyes on Cappuccino. “You see my face,” Twilight said. “You know who I am.”
“M-Miss Sparkle,” Rainbow nodded.
She bared her teeth, but there was more at stake than her self-image. “Listen to Miss Sparkle,” Twilight said firmly, though her lips twisted in distaste. “I know what's best.”
In an instant the facade dropped away, revealing the anger bubbling beneath Cappuccino's calm surface. “Don't listen to her!” the pegasus exclaimed harshly. “There is no Miss Sparkle! I made her up!”
“She's real enough to protect Rainbow from you,” Twilight growled.
“Perhaps, Twilight Sparkle, but who will protect you?” he snarled. “Rainbow Dash, force it down her throat.”
“What?!” Rainbow trembled upon the ground and nearly dropped the flask. “Y-you're out of your mind!”
His jaw dropped open. “What did you say to me?” Cappuccino hissed.
“I said no!” she barked. “I would never hurt Miss Sparkle, not even for you!”
“You will do whatever I order you to do!” He lowered his head and pawed at the sand. “You are mine!”
“I'm Miss Sparkle's,” Rainbow said defiantly.
“I am Miss Sparkle!” he roared. She flinched at his fury; her hindlegs scooted her a few inches backward. “I said the words. I wore the mask! You love me!
Rainbow's muzzle crinkled in disgust. “Get out of here, you creep!”
Before anypony could blink Cappuccino darted forward and smashed a hoof into her belly. She groaned as she curled around the wound and her hooves darted downward to protect herself; he snatched the abandoned bottle from her chest on his way past. “I will prove it,” he hissed, pointing the flask toward the pair.
“You won't get the chance,” Twilight snarled. Her horn flared to life once more; Rainbow Dash rolled onto her hooves and staggered to her side. “We're done playing your game, Cappuccino.”
His emerald eyes flashed above a wicked grin. “The game is nearly through.”
Rainbow lifted off and cannoned toward him. She met his hindhooves and was thrown backward into the dirt, rolling and holding her nose.
“Don't move and don't speak!” Cappuccino barked. His eyes narrowed as he lifted his gaze back to the unicorn. “The adults are talking.”
Twilight's horn glowed brighter than the bonfire behind them, fueled by every ounce of her fury. “I'm through with talking,” she hissed. “You've caused her enough pain.”
“Oh?” he asked slowly. “Do you want to see what real pain is?” He lunged toward Rainbow. Twilight ran to meet him.
But he hadn't come closer; it was only a feint. She turned her head toward her friend for a split second. Rainbow's eyes widened as she stared toward Cappuccino.
Twilight turned her head in time for the glass bottle to shatter upon her horn.
She screamed in agony as shards of heavy glass sliced at her horn and scalp. The drink sprayed across her mane and burned her eyes. Twilight fell to the earth and gingerly scraped at her eyelids with a hoof, crying out at her own touch. “Rainbow, help me!”
Her pegasus leaped over her and bared her teeth at Cappuccino. “Don't hurt her!” Rainbow yelled angrily, ignoring the taste of her own blood on her lips.
“Stay back!” he ordered, and she did. When he tried to approach, however, she snapped her teeth at him like a feral dog. He eyed her battle-ready posture and her furious multicolored glare. “Fine,” he said bitterly. “I will have to convince you.”
“Try it, creep,” she dared him, taking a step back toward the fallen unicorn.
“I will not have to try,” he smirked. He spread his wings wide. “I hope that you like following orders as much as Rainbow seems to, Twilight,” he crooned, “because the hypnotoxin will surely reach your brain soon.”
Twilight forced her eyes open. “No,” she whimpered.
He snickered as he floated backward into the sky, wings pumping furiously. “Perhaps I will show you how I make it someday, Rainbow Dash!” he shouted.
Rainbow's eyes tailed him but she couldn't leave Twilight to face her fate alone. “What do we do, Miss Sparkle?” she whimpered. “Can we stop it?”
Twilight blinked the red-tainted tea from her eyes. “He's bluffing!” she assured her. “None of these cuts are deep enough to worry about and most of the potion is in the dirt.”
Rainbow's neck retracted a few inches into her shoulders. “He seems pretty sure you're wrong.”
“What does it matter?” Twilight yelled crossly. She placed a hoof on Rainbow's left shoulder and heaved herself onto her friend's back once more. “We won't give him the chance to find out!”
Rainbow laughed in appreciation of her wounded friend's courage. Her courage was contagious. “Yeah!” she whooped as they zipped up into the atmosphere, leaving a dim trail of red and yellow and purple behind them. Cappuccino jolted backward and darted away. “He's going down!”
Twilight heaved up and down with the rhythm of Rainbow's flexing wing muscles. She hissed as the wind picked more glass out of her bangs and coat. “I can't see him clearly,” she shouted over the wind. “My eyes are tearing up!”
“Then I'll be your eyes,” Rainbow said confidently.
“I don't think...”
“Trust me.”
Twilight blinked at the emotion that surged through her. “I do,” she breathed. “Where is he?”
“Look straight ahead,” she said.
She turned her head and another wave of warmth washed over her. “Rainbow,” she began uneasily.
“We're staring right at him,” Rainbow replied as they leveled out high above the desert. “See him?”
Her fears could wait. “No.” She rubbed tenderly at her lids. “My eyes are full of poison!”
“Well, believe me, it's him,” Rainbow said confidently. She put on an extra burst of speed. “And there's no way he can outfly Rainbow Dash!”
“I can't see anything in this darkness,” Twilight complained.
“Then give us a light!”
Her horn's berry glow immediately grew into a radius around them, but it didn't help her at all. “What do we...”
Cappuccino suddenly flipped and sped toward them, hooves outstretched and teeth bared.
“Duck!” Rainbow yelped. She folded her wings and plummeted downward a few yards.
His hooves barely missed them as he dove past. “On the ground!” he yelled. “Now!”
Twilight turned to fire a few pink missiles in his wake, but her eyes were too blurry for her to aim. “This isn't going to work,” she exclaimed as Rainbow turned sharply to follow him. “We have to–” Her breath left her as Rainbow dove into a roll to avoid his second pass.
“Twilight, jump!” Cappuccino screamed from above.
“Forget the light!” Rainbow yelped as she righted herself. “It's helping him more than us! Can you, like, turn it into a flashlight or something?”
The dome around them became a long and narrow cone emanating from the tip of Twilight's horn.
“Where is he?” She squinted and tried to look over Rainbow's mane.
The pressure on her right shoulder made them veer wildly before Rainbow could correct it. “Stay low!” she yelped. “This is hard enough as it is!”
A flush of shame flooded through Twilight. “Sorry,” she said softly. She lifted her other hoof, moving slowly to avoid throwing off her friend's balance again, and wiped some moisture from her left eye.
“I'll let you know when you're pointing at him, then you start casting. Got it?”
She took a shuddering breath. “Yes, Dashie.” She looked straight ahead into the blackness and let her friend guide her.
Rainbow adjusted their direction with every nudge and twist of Cappuccino's flight pattern. He fought valiantly to keep Twilight's beam from landing on him, but Rainbow was easily the faster and more agile of the two. It was only a matter of time before the light began to track him closely enough. “Go, go, go!” Rainbow exclaimed.
Twilight forced more energy into her horn and through it in the form of little pink thorns, firing blindly but certainly down her beam of light. Cappuccino cried out as the stream flew past just an inch to his right, almost tearing a gash in his saddlebag, and dove toward the earth.
Rainbow laughed as they dove after him, orienting herself and Twilight recklessly. Twilight wrapped her hooves tightly around Rainbow's neck as they tipped onto their right side to follow him into a spiral. “We've got him now!” she cried. “Up a little!”
Twilight closed her useless eyes to keep from succumbing to vertigo. “My up or Equestria's?” she asked harshly.
“Neither!” Rainbow laughed as she righted herself; even Twilight could see the ground passing by almost close enough to scrape her hooves raw. “Straight ahead!”
Cappuccino juked left. “Stop!” Cappuccino cried. “Twilight, stop! I order you to stop!”
“Keep firing, Twilight!” Rainbow cheered. “You can do it!”
Rainbow might have meant the phrase to be simple encouragement, but Twilight took it differently. Her efforts redoubled. Cappuccino flipped backward to sail over their heads, but Rainbow predicted it and followed in a tight backflip of her own.
The pegasus cried out as his left wing suffered a punch that shattered a handful of feathers, but luckily for him it missed his remiges. As he tried to right himself, though, another landed a blow on the side of his head. He fell past the two mares with a sharp yell and fought gravity for control. Rainbow twisted and spiraled into a dive to catch up. “Yes!” Rainbow crowed. “Go Twilight!”
Twilight's body was on fire and she loved it.
Cappuccino's hooves touched down lightly and the friction of his impacts dragged him to the earth. He smashed into the ground chest-first and rolled in a jumble of fur, feathers and burlap. Left with no time or energy to fly, he climbed shakily to his hooves and reached his muzzle into the saddlebag.
“Gonna give up now, Cappuccino?” Rainbow jeered as they approached.
He turned his head away.
“Or do you want to play some more?”
He spun on his back hoof and Rainbow froze in shock. The mares hit the ground hard enough to make Twilight's teeth clack together. Where Cappuccino had been, there stood a purple-muzzled Zebrican monstrosity with bared teeth, squinting eyes, and a pink-streaked mohawk. “Throw her!” it screamed.
Rainbow's hindquarters immediately bucked upward, tossing Twilight roughly from her position. The unicorn let out a squawk and landed hard on her hip.
Cappuccino beamed behind his stolen mask. “Good. Now knock her out.”
Twilight threw her forelegs over her muzzle. “Don't listen, Dashie!” she squeaked.
Rainbow's eyes were locked on the mask. Sweat rolled down her forehead; she chewed her lip and trembled in the face of the mask's fury.
“She is a threat to Miss Sparkle, Rainbow Dash,” Cappuccino growled firmly. “Kick her!”
Twilight rolled onto her forehooves. “Don't listen to him, Dashie–”
“Do it, Rainbow Dash!” he cried over her. “Do it!”
“Don't!”
“Do it!”
With a strangled cry Rainbow pivoted on her forehooves and put the entirety of her weight behind a viscious kick to Twilight's muzzle.
Twilight fell back as if in slow motion. Her left eye focused on Rainbow Dash while her right drifted toward the skyline. The inside of her lip had split in two places and she knew her muzzle would be bleeding almost as badly as Rainbow Dash's before long. She could feel a large piece of a front tooth slide backward into her throat, adding a light cut on her tongue to her list of woes. Most of all she felt a pain greater than any physical wound, the pain of the final link in a long chain of betrayals.
Then she was staring up at the stars and wondering how it had all happened.
She blinked and suddenly Rainbow's muzzle popped into view. The pegasus whimpered shrilly as she looked down into Twilight's unfocused eyes. “I picked the wrong one,” she wept. “I'm sorry, Miss Sparkle!”
“D'you kick me, Dashie?” she whispered. Blood bubbled through the hole left by her broken tooth and dribbled down her cheek.
Rainbow blinked a tear to the earth. “Mhm,” she said weakly.
She disappeared in another instant, tackled to the ground by another pegasus. There was a series of dull thuds that Twilight couldn't place and then the purple zebra rose into her view. It took off its head and turned back into Cappuccino, who smiled so widely it made Twilight sick to her stomach, unless that was the effects of her concussion coming back. “I win,” he said proudly. “You lose.”
Twilight nodded and accepted the darkness.
,',
Her dizziness was back too.
Twilight fought to hold her eye open, but everything was hazy. There was an odd taste on her tongue. Coppery... No, that was the blood. There was something else. Chamomile; herbal tea. It tasted off. That was probably due to the extra ingredients Cappuccino had thrown in.
She opened her other eye as far as she could, which didn't seem to be very far at all, and craned her neck. She found Rainbow three yards to her right; her scalp was bleeding, her eyes were half-shut and her wings fluttered weakly. Cappuccino cradled her upon his lap as he fed her from a plastic bottle. She choked and twitched in his grasp and a trickle of the tea-like potion dribbled down her chin.
Twilight wiped a hoof across her own chin. It was still wet. At least the tea that had spilled from her mouth had washed some of the blood out of her fur.
Cappuccino heard the rustle of fur on fur and turned to her with a wicked smile. “Welcome back, Twilight,” he cooed. “I was hoping to see you again before I had to leave.”
She groaned and let her head fall back. Even the light impact of her skull to the hard-packed ground was like a lightning bolt to the head.
“I have a small favor to ask of you.” He ignored Rainbow's feeble attempts to push herself out of his foreleg's grip, but he pulled the empty bottle away and let her gasp for breath. “Kill yourself.”
Twilight sighed.
“The method is unimportant,” Cappuccino added. “Run until you find a stone column and bring it down upon your head. Bury yourself neck-deep in the sand and burn. I could not care less.” He stood with Rainbow Dash held tenderly in his arms; the pair could have modeled for the cover of one of Rarity's romance novels. “Be certain to finish it quickly.” He hobbled forward a few steps and took to the sky with her.
Twilight raised a hoof into the air. “Dashie!” she wailed faintly.
A few seconds later the pegasus's flight pattern grew erratic. A dark shape dropped loose against the backdrop of the night and soon coalesced into the prismatic form of Rainbow Dash speeding toward her. She landed a few yards away and launched herself into a tight hug around Twilight's neck. “I'm sorry, Miss Sparkle!” she cried. “He got me!”
Twilight held her close and stroked her mane. “He got me too,” she whispered.
Rainbow whimpered into her neck. “I'm so sorry.”
“I-it'll be okay, Rainbow Dash,” she whispered. “The Princesses...” She couldn't finish her sentence. Her last words to Rainbow Dash couldn't be a lie. “I'm sorry too,” she sobbed finally.
“I love you,” she wept. “It's not just the potion, Miss Sparkle, I swear it isn't!”
Twilight squeezed her tightly. “After the week we've had, I don't know what to think anymore,” she mumbled, “but I think...”
A hoof smacked into the back of Rainbow's skull. “Get away from her,” Cappuccino growled as he tugged at her shoulder.
“Don't make her do it!” Rainbow wailed. Her tears stained Twilight's shoulder. “Do whatever you want to me,” she wept, “just don't hurt Twilight!”
“Obey me!” he roared.
Rainbow's sobs rose in pitch. “No!”
His shoulders slowly grew tense. “No?” he said finally, unable to believe his ears.
Twilight's shoulders had tensed as well. Her eyes opened, revealing one in her natural violet and one clad her friend's cerise. She sat up, lowering Rainbow to her lap, and gave him a disbelieving stare. Her horn glowed as pink as her left eye and the aura surrounded Cappuccino's mane. She dragged him slowly forward until their muzzles met. “I don't want to,” she breathed. She searched his eyes for an answer, one after the other. “I won't do it!”
Rainbow gasped and fell away from Twilight. She rolled onto her back and stared from one to the other. Her muzzle split into a smile of exultation.
Cappuccino's mouth worked soundlessly. He swallowed as a victorious smile crept slowly over Twilight's muzzle. “B-but my herbs...”
“I won't follow your orders,” Twilight laughed. The pink haze lifted him from the earth. He struggled to balance on his hindlegs. “I'm already under its effects. I already follow another, and she follows me! You have no power over us!”
“No,” he whimpered. “Rainbow is still mine!”
A prismatic blur knocked Cappuccino free of Twilight's telekinetic grip and began to pummel the tar out of him with a hoarse cry of fury. “You bastard!” she shrilled as her hooves bloodied his cheeks. “You feathering–”
The pink glow pulled Rainbow back by the shoulders. She howled as she flew backward toward Twilight, who gripped her in a tight hug from behind. “Enough, Rainbow Dash,” she said firmly. “He can't hurt you anymore.”
“I can sure as hay hurt him!” she roared.
Twilight's limbs squeezed her reassuringly. “You are better than that.” She glanced at the pegasus on the ground, whose forelegs twitched feebly. “We both are,” she growled.
“I want to kill him,” Rainbow sobbed. “He tried to do it to you! Why should he get to live?”
Twilight spun her in her grasp and the two hugged each other tightly. “Because hurting him wouldn't help anypony, not even you.”
Cappuccino groaned and tried to sit up. Twilight's magic snagged him by the mane again, threw him nose-first into the ground, and dragged him toward her. “We're better than that,” she said self-consciously. Rainbow snickered.
“You think you have won?” Cappuccino snarled. The words were muffled, since his close proximity to the ground kept him from opening his jaw more than a hair. “There is no turning back from here.”
“Shut up, Cappuccino,” Rainbow said tiredly. “Don't make me shut you up.”
“I will have you, Rainbow Dash,” he promised. “Without the Elements of Harmony there is nopony to stop me from taking you.”
Rainbow barked out a laugh. “Wait a minute, You mean that wasn't the point of all this?” she said incredulously. “You mean you came closer than anypony to destroying the Elements of Harmony because you wanted to go out with me?” she chuckled. “You're crazy! That's not even a joke. You're feathering nuts.”
“He's a psychopath, Rainbow Dash,” Twilight explained. “They don't think about other ponies the way we do.”
He glowered at Twilight. “What good are other ponies if friends will become enemies with a word?” he snarled. “What good is harmony if it can be shattered by a rumor?”
“No friendship is perfect,” she replied, “but we can trust each other to do the best we can.”
“Is this their best?” he needled her. “Was that white one a good friend when she tried to push you into Ghastly Gorge?”
Twilight flinched, but Rainbow's embrace gave her courage. “She had her reasons,” Twilight said quietly.
Even Rainbow stared incredulously at that. “Rarity nearly killed you!” she cried. “Aren't you even mad?”
Twilight tried to hide the emotions that threatened to bubble to the surface. “Of course I'm angry,” she admitted, “but that doesn't change anything.”
“Your friends abandoned you, Twilight Sparkle!” Cappuccino argued. “You and I, we have no friends!”
Twilight nodded to the pegasus in her hooves. “I have Rainbow Dash.”
Cappuccino growled into the dirt and flared his wings. “She is mine!” he screamed. “I own her!”
“Why me?” Rainbow asked. “Why can't you just get with some other pegasus?”
“They don't deserve my friendship!”
“Oh, and I do?” she growled. “Well, guess what, buddy! You don't deserve mine.”
“I don't want your friendship!” he shrieked. “You are nothing more than my wife! You will stay home and do what you're told and never, ever ask me for more!”
“That's not what friends are for,” she said proudly. “If you want to get that close to anypony, you've got a lot of work ahead of you. Right, Twilight?”
Twilight stared off pensively. “Cappuccino, you're going to prison,” she said. The words were surprisingly sad. “Either that, or you'll be placed in an institution for a long time. You'll have a lot of free time on your hooves.”
“Not if I can help it...” He struggled futilely against Twilight's grip.
“You can't,” Twilight said. “I want you to think about this very carefully, Cappuccino. I don't think you'll be locked away forever, but if you refuse to change, you might be. I don't want that to happen.”
Cappuccino looked up at her as if she were a strange and ugly new species of bog-crawler. “Then leave,” he said simply.
She shook her head. “I'm going to ask that you are placed in an institution where you can get the help you need. In fact, I hope to help you myself. I have learned a lot about friendship in the last two years. If I can share those experiences with you, maybe you can learn something.”
“Do you really think that's a good idea?” Rainbow asked. Her ears lay as flat as Cappuccino's.
“I haven't looked extensively into the subject, but if what I read is correct, a sociopath cannot change who they are,” she said sadly. “However, I have seen proof that a pony like you can learn to function in our society just like anypony else, and gain some form of satisfaction from it. I hope we can show you how.”
“I am through functioning in your society,” Cappuccino said, frustration making him tremble against the earth. “I am through dealing with those stupid ponies! I just want to live with Rainbow Dash in a cloud house in the mountains and sell my recipes for a living.”
“And I wanted to be a princess when I was a filly,” Twilight sighed. “Sometimes our dreams don't come true.”
“At least you have the chance to realize your dreams!” he snapped. “Rainbow Dash never even looked at me until I forced her to!”
“That's 'cause you're a jerk,” Rainbow sassed.
“No dream is worth chasing if it hurts somepony else.” Twilight said firmly. “I don't think you would truly be happy with her.”
“I would,” he muttered. “Her beauty is the only thing that ever brought me happiness.”
“You only wanted her to be your possession, to soothe the feelings of envy and greed in your heart,” she argued. “That isn't true happiness.”
Cappuccino sighed. “Then I will never find true happiness.”
“We'll see, Cappuccino,” she said softly. “We'll see.”
,',
The three of them flew northeast in silence. Twilight rode Rainbow Dash once more; Cappuccino flew just below and in front of them, where Rainbow could easily change his mind if he looked as if he was planning to cause trouble.
Twilight was having a hard time refraining from touching the pegasus beneath her with her hooves, or rubbing a cheek into her fur. Perhaps it was simply relief that she had survived and perhaps it was the potion, but she wanted nothing more than to twist Rainbow's head back in her hooves and... She shook her head. Thoughts like that would get them nowhere until they had a chance to brew an antidote. At least Twilight had thought to tell Rainbow not to ask her to do anything physical with her, because since Twilight and Rainbow were inclined to obey each other, things could easily have grown... awkward.
But in spite of her misgivings, Twilight had to wonder if it was just the potion.
“Dashie?” she said suddenly.
“Yeah, Twilight?”
She took a moment to gather her thoughts. “You... You were my only friend through all of this,” she said finally. “I know it sounds kind of hollow, but I'm glad you stuck by me, even if you were under the influence of hypnotoxin.”
Twilight felt Rainbow shrug beneath her. “I'm sorry I was so stupid in the first place,” she replied. “I nearly got you and AJ killed, I would have left Rarity for dead... Who knows what would have happened to me if not for you.”
“I'm sorry too,” she sighed. “I don't know what I would have done if he'd gotten away with it.”
Rainbow shrugged. She could feel Twilight's hooves and hindlegs tightening around her and she just knew that her friend was dwelling on the possibilities. “Twilight?” she said softly.
The unicorn chuckled as their roles were reversed. “Yeah, Rainbow.” She could tell exactly what Rainbow Dash was going to say next, but maybe she needed to hear it anyway...
“It's over,” Rainbow assured her. “Don't worry about what happened, or what could have happened, 'cause... 'cause tomorrow's a new day, right? We'll just have to make it that much better to make up for the weeks we've had.”
Twilight tried to smile and, to her surprise, it was easier than she'd thought. “You're right, Rainbow. No matter what tomorrow brings, it's going to be a better day.” She burrowed her cheek into Rainbow's neck and tightened her hooves around her. Rainbow's ear flicked as a hot, dry sigh traveled across it. “I can't wait to get back to the library,” she said softly. “It feels like forever since I've slept in my own bed.”
“Don't worry, you'll be back in bed in no time,” Rainbow promised. “I'll fly you the whole way home if I have to.”
“You two are disgusting,” Cappuccino called from below. “Can you not withhold your affection for another hour?”
Rainbow made as if to drop on him, but a humored look from Twilight made her think twice. “I am withholding my affection,” the pegasus muttered.
Twilight laughed in her ear. “Me too, Rainbow,” she admitted.
Rainbow squealed and swung from left to right in jubilation. “You like me, don't you?” she badgered her.
Twilight's care-free grin was short-lived. “I don't know,” she said finally. “I think I did even before I was given the potion, but what if...”
Rainbow frowned. “You're still worried about taking advantage of me, aren't you?” she muttered.
“Yes, Rainbow, I am,” she said. “I don't want to do anything you'll regret when we're cured of the potion's influence.”
“But I wouldn't regret it!” Rainbow said loudly. “I really like you, Twilight. I mean, we were really good friends before all of this happened, and even after I drank the potion I could see how much you really cared about me getting better. And then... Well, after today... You really, really care about me,” Rainbow said forcefully. “A lot.”
Twilight hesitated. “Yes, Rainbow, I do.”
“And I care about you too, a lot.”
Twilight licked her lips. “How much is a lot?” she asked.
“I don't know, but I think even if I'd never taken the potion, the stuff we did together this week... I think it would have convinced me. I mean, it might have just been a crush before, but it never stopped and now it's...” She paused uncertainly.
Twilight blinked. “Are you trying to tell me...”
“Maybe I am, kinda.” Roses blossomed in her cheeks. “I mean, you and me... I could see it. I think we make a good team, don't you? One that could last a long time.” She gave Twilight a nervous smile, but it couldn't hold. “Um... What about you?” Rainbow asked. “You think you might wanna try to, you know, date and stuff? Do the whole marefriends thing?”
“I...” Twilight forced the words down, but there were none to replace them. “I don't know. I want to say yes, but what if it doesn't work out?” she asked.
“I'll take the chance,” Rainbow said confidently.
“But I'm not sure if I can,” Twilight exclaimed. “What if we find the antidote and suddenly we don't like each other like that anymore?”
“Then we'll be best friends,” Rainbow assured her. “Anything that happens in the meantime will just be... memories. Nice memories that we don't have to worry about, because it was just two ponies that really cared about each other doing... um, doing things that...” She blushed. “You know, to show how much they care.”
“I don't know...”
“Dating and stuff,” she added lamely.
Twilight took a deep breath through her nose. “Look, Rainbow, you know I want to, but I... can't. I don't think I'm ready.”
Rainbow seemed to deflate beneath her. “Are you sure?”
Twilight rested her jaw on the top of Rainbow's head and a warm breath from her nostrils blew a tuft of Rainbow's mane into place. “As sure as I can be,” she said softly.
“Then can we still be best friends?” Rainbow said sadly. “I don't want anything weird between us.”
“Of course, Rainbow Dash,” Twilight promised. “Nothing will change that.”
Rainbow rolled her shoulders. “But before you make up your mind, I just wanna say that you said you'd think about it.”
Twilight picked her head up and looked down at Rainbow. “What? When?”
“When we were camped out in the gorge, remember?” Rainbow reminded her.
“I said I'd think about it if you still wanted to try it after we got you better,” she argued.
“I know,” Rainbow muttered, “but will you think about it now anyway?”
Twilight chuckled. “I'm not sure I can think about anything else,” she admitted.
Rainbow smiled. “Then let me know,” she said softly. “I'll be waiting.”
Cappuccino growled to himself. Twilight and Rainbow broke into gales of laughter and kept flying through the night.